The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence [Tapa dura]

I've never seen so many font sizes, exclamation points and redundancy in one book. There is nothing new here, and what IS here is so mercilessly pounded on that you would have to be severely ADHD to get anything out of it. A typical paragraph: "Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate." (I wish I was exaggerating).

I made it to page 85 before swearing I would never read another Tom Peters book as long as I live. The thought of trying to make it through the remaining 453 pages made me want to pull my eyeballs out. The Little Big Things becomes the fourth book I've ever ordered from Amazon that I am returning, and the second this week. Must be a bad week for business books.

You're better off buying a used copy of The Search for Excellence, even though many of the companies featured in that book have been out of business so long that under-40 readers won't have ever heard of them.

I've been listening to Tom's "The Little Big Things" and reading along on the Kindle version. Tom likes to zero in on simple ideas that can have a powerful impact on the success of a business (small, medium or large). This is a really healthy approach to helping businesses succeed. Folks like to read, absorb and apply...not spend all kinds of time trying to understand graphs, analyses, and information presented all-too-often intended to impress than to assist. So Tom scores very big points throughout in getting us immediately useable information.

There is one item I strongly disagree with in the book. Tom says:

"I argue here and elsewhere that the *only* effective source of innovation is pissed-off people! Hence, bite your tongue and cherish such misfits!" (the word *only* was in italics presumably for emphasis)

I'm sure some points of innovation come from pissed-off people, and I imagine Tom has considerably more examples of this than I do. But I'm also sure superb innovation has come from those not pissed-off at all. This I've seen with my own eyeballs on quite a few occasions. And sometimes these pissed-off misfits are just that: pissed-off misfits with no innovation whatsoever in their space. Quite the contrary, some are involved with undoing innovation, creativity and productivity. So I'm not on the look-out for pissed-off misfits nor should you be. Be on the look-out for innovation in whatever form it presents itself. Then check it out, test it out and use it liberally when you see it gets the desired results.

I have been in Tom Peters' camp for 20+ years, buying all of his books, visiting his website religiously, buying the books he recommend, downloading his youtube files, watching his DVD, and learning form him more than from anyone else. He is The Guru of Gurus. I have always looked forward to his books, I bought them all, I read them all. I bought more than 20 copies of Re-Imagine to give to friends.

This book is in the same vein as his previous books, which is always crunchy, fun to read, fresh, and enlighting. Most are his regular materials, packed into one book. The chapters are made for easier search: Crisis, Opportunity, Resilience, Connection, Attitude, Performance, Work, Initiative, Leadership, Networking, Talent, Innovation, Learning, Design, WOW, and so on........ A Huge 500+ pages of stuffs that will en-light and shine on your days. This is some sort of "reference book" that you can pick and read for 10 minutes or an hour or a whole weekend every now and then.

"Business Motivation" is what this is all about, It's the little BIG things THAT MATTER. One Chapter or even one "cut" is worth reading and thinking and considering (There are 163 ways to pursue Excellence, as the subtitle said). If you have ever downloaded Tom Peters' Powerpoint Master Files, you know this is it, the complete set, sorta His Legacy. This is not a "One Big Idea" that change the world, but a bunch of small things that will make us all better business persons.

For the new readers who have never known Tom, this is a huge book with 163 ideas, jammed into one, that will last forever. Most will love it, some will hate it. Tom always thinks that being loved and being hated is much better than being ignored! (He matters.) Give it a try, you might get hooked.

I graduated from University of Chicago MBA, have started and succeeded in more than ten new start-ups, and am doing lots of public seminars nowadays. I know that I owe a lot to Tom of the way I am now. He is the mentor I have not met yet. Thank You Tom.